Updates/Things to come in April
By Tamika Whitenack
It has been a long time since I have written a blog on here! Life has been busy, and I will attempt to capture all the things happening in this post.
Spring Break was spent in the United Kingdom and Ireland for two weeks, and I have now been back at Vassar for 2 weeks. It is April! Spring is finally arriving, today I went on a run in SHORTS and I am wearing a dress and a mere cardigan...the winter jackets are almost ready for permanent seasonal retirement!
April is a very busy month! I think to best capture this I will just let you know what I have on my schedule.
Lots of things for ASA (Asian Student's Alliance!)
Tonight we have a performer, DANakaDAN! He is a Korean-American rapper and he is coming to give a talk and then a performance!
Later in the semester, we will be bringing the author Suki Kim. She is a Korean American best known for The Intepreter and Without You, There is No Us.
We are also beginning the process of elections for next year! This is crazy, because it really makes it feel like the end of the semester is approaching. I'm not planning to be part of ASA exectuive board next year. It has been an amazing experience this year and I loved contributing to the community in this way, but I feel like I can still be involved next year without the added responsibility and time commitment of EB.
Vassar Asian American Studies Working Group is alive and active! We're continuing meetings with professors and administrators, and are planning a professor panel that will discuss Critical Ethnic Studies, how it relates to Asian American Studies, and what it could look like at Vassar.
There is also a group of us who are trying to attend the Association for Asian American Studies conference in Madison, WI later this month. The funds are almost secured, so it's looking like I'll be taking another little trip. Excited to learn things! And make change happen at Vassar! There is a visiting professor coming in the fall teaching 3 classes, so that is exciting.
My other main student org, Vassar Food Community, is also quite busy! We are hoping to attend a cooking workshop in Poughkeepsie next week, and the following week we are in charge of the "Gluttony" room for an all-campus event called Seven Deadly Sins. We are also working on collaborating with a local school to help kindergarteners plant seedlings for their garden!
The ALANA Center also has a big event coming up this month, the ALANA Leadership Awards. It is bascially a nice dinner to recognize POC leaders on campus.
I'm also a student here! With classes!
The Brexit class is over, but we have a 10-12 page research paper due on the 24. I plan to write mine on the impacts/potential impacts of BREXIT on food supplies and food regulation, and possible food insecurity.
For Environmental Studies we've had some interesting readings: Amitav Ghosh's The Great Derangement draws links between imperialism, capitalism, and climate change, and turns to the pope as a voice of reason on potential solutions (Laudato Si). We read an interesting but very abstract piece about Gaia Theory and anthropocentrism...but my favorite has been Braiding Sweetgrass, a beautifully written book by botanist and indigenous author Robin Wall Kimmerer. She blends indigenous knowledge of plants with science and it is just a very nurturing book in content and style. Would highly recommend. We are beginning our big final projects for ENST as well, and I plan to explore storytelling as an effective way to raise awareness and connect people to climate change, as well as empower marginalized communities most impacted by climate change.
For Spanish, we have been reading stories and just began the novela Cronica de un muerte anunciada by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. We also wrote short stories, mine was about a girl and some vegetables. We have an essay due on a short story analysis, and I think I'm going to write about Isabel Allende's "The Judge's Wife."
Geography is interesting! We are moving out of earth science and more into the social stuff (which still relates to the science). We read THe Worst Hard Time, about the Dust Bowl, and are now exploring the Farm Bill and the legislation that goes into the US food system. Interestingly, the Farm Bill is most about Nutrition Assistance, such as SNAP, than about agriculture.
Sociology continues to explore various pieces of our complicated food systems, our most recent paper was discussing local and global food systems and our future in relation to 2 books: A Precautionary Tale, about a small European town that banned pesticides, and A Buzz in the Meadow, which is a deep exploration of bugs and small creatures and their sex lives and importance to our greater ecosystems.
I'm continuing to babysit! I've gotten pretty use to the early mornings and the routine of cooking, helping out, and playing with the kids. I think they both feel pretty comfortable around me now, which is great! We read a lot of Daisy Meadows Rainbow Fairies books during breakfast time, which reminds me of my 3rd grade silent reading days. We also do a lot of imaginative playing with beads, and the other day I played candyland. And did a puppet show about a pink giraffe! And then about Elmo.
In addition to this, I am, of course, still running 6 days a week (the warmer weather is so nice!) and doing my once a week yoga and Pilates. And I still try to play flute about 4x a week and piano, too! The past 2 weeks have mainly been recovering my flute embouchure from 2 weeks of not playing, but now that the weather is warmer, my flute is much happier, and my tone is improving. I'm not crazy, it's true!
I continue to be grateful for the wonderful friends and communities that I have at Vassar, and enjoy all the conversations I am able to have with people. They help me grow, they humble me, and they provide a way for me to process my thoughts.
April is a busy month on the entire campus! Here are some other events that I plan to attend this month:
Environmental Studies Film Festival
Conference on Passing (in the context of racialization)
KFest (Korean Festival)
International Dance Festival
Lecture by Annalise Orleck
Talk by Jamaica Kincaid
volunteering at the Poughkeepsie food pantry/soup kitchen
and honestly more things will probably come up!
I'm also really hoping to do some hiking at some point! So life is busy, but very good. And I have been cooking eggplant and banana granola in my spare time.
It has been a long time since I have written a blog on here! Life has been busy, and I will attempt to capture all the things happening in this post.
Spring Break was spent in the United Kingdom and Ireland for two weeks, and I have now been back at Vassar for 2 weeks. It is April! Spring is finally arriving, today I went on a run in SHORTS and I am wearing a dress and a mere cardigan...the winter jackets are almost ready for permanent seasonal retirement!
April is a very busy month! I think to best capture this I will just let you know what I have on my schedule.
Lots of things for ASA (Asian Student's Alliance!)
Tonight we have a performer, DANakaDAN! He is a Korean-American rapper and he is coming to give a talk and then a performance!
Later in the semester, we will be bringing the author Suki Kim. She is a Korean American best known for The Intepreter and Without You, There is No Us.
We are also beginning the process of elections for next year! This is crazy, because it really makes it feel like the end of the semester is approaching. I'm not planning to be part of ASA exectuive board next year. It has been an amazing experience this year and I loved contributing to the community in this way, but I feel like I can still be involved next year without the added responsibility and time commitment of EB.
Vassar Asian American Studies Working Group is alive and active! We're continuing meetings with professors and administrators, and are planning a professor panel that will discuss Critical Ethnic Studies, how it relates to Asian American Studies, and what it could look like at Vassar.
There is also a group of us who are trying to attend the Association for Asian American Studies conference in Madison, WI later this month. The funds are almost secured, so it's looking like I'll be taking another little trip. Excited to learn things! And make change happen at Vassar! There is a visiting professor coming in the fall teaching 3 classes, so that is exciting.
My other main student org, Vassar Food Community, is also quite busy! We are hoping to attend a cooking workshop in Poughkeepsie next week, and the following week we are in charge of the "Gluttony" room for an all-campus event called Seven Deadly Sins. We are also working on collaborating with a local school to help kindergarteners plant seedlings for their garden!
The ALANA Center also has a big event coming up this month, the ALANA Leadership Awards. It is bascially a nice dinner to recognize POC leaders on campus.
I'm also a student here! With classes!
The Brexit class is over, but we have a 10-12 page research paper due on the 24. I plan to write mine on the impacts/potential impacts of BREXIT on food supplies and food regulation, and possible food insecurity.
For Environmental Studies we've had some interesting readings: Amitav Ghosh's The Great Derangement draws links between imperialism, capitalism, and climate change, and turns to the pope as a voice of reason on potential solutions (Laudato Si). We read an interesting but very abstract piece about Gaia Theory and anthropocentrism...but my favorite has been Braiding Sweetgrass, a beautifully written book by botanist and indigenous author Robin Wall Kimmerer. She blends indigenous knowledge of plants with science and it is just a very nurturing book in content and style. Would highly recommend. We are beginning our big final projects for ENST as well, and I plan to explore storytelling as an effective way to raise awareness and connect people to climate change, as well as empower marginalized communities most impacted by climate change.
For Spanish, we have been reading stories and just began the novela Cronica de un muerte anunciada by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. We also wrote short stories, mine was about a girl and some vegetables. We have an essay due on a short story analysis, and I think I'm going to write about Isabel Allende's "The Judge's Wife."
Geography is interesting! We are moving out of earth science and more into the social stuff (which still relates to the science). We read THe Worst Hard Time, about the Dust Bowl, and are now exploring the Farm Bill and the legislation that goes into the US food system. Interestingly, the Farm Bill is most about Nutrition Assistance, such as SNAP, than about agriculture.
Sociology continues to explore various pieces of our complicated food systems, our most recent paper was discussing local and global food systems and our future in relation to 2 books: A Precautionary Tale, about a small European town that banned pesticides, and A Buzz in the Meadow, which is a deep exploration of bugs and small creatures and their sex lives and importance to our greater ecosystems.
I'm continuing to babysit! I've gotten pretty use to the early mornings and the routine of cooking, helping out, and playing with the kids. I think they both feel pretty comfortable around me now, which is great! We read a lot of Daisy Meadows Rainbow Fairies books during breakfast time, which reminds me of my 3rd grade silent reading days. We also do a lot of imaginative playing with beads, and the other day I played candyland. And did a puppet show about a pink giraffe! And then about Elmo.
In addition to this, I am, of course, still running 6 days a week (the warmer weather is so nice!) and doing my once a week yoga and Pilates. And I still try to play flute about 4x a week and piano, too! The past 2 weeks have mainly been recovering my flute embouchure from 2 weeks of not playing, but now that the weather is warmer, my flute is much happier, and my tone is improving. I'm not crazy, it's true!
I continue to be grateful for the wonderful friends and communities that I have at Vassar, and enjoy all the conversations I am able to have with people. They help me grow, they humble me, and they provide a way for me to process my thoughts.
April is a busy month on the entire campus! Here are some other events that I plan to attend this month:
Environmental Studies Film Festival
Conference on Passing (in the context of racialization)
KFest (Korean Festival)
International Dance Festival
Lecture by Annalise Orleck
Talk by Jamaica Kincaid
volunteering at the Poughkeepsie food pantry/soup kitchen
and honestly more things will probably come up!
I'm also really hoping to do some hiking at some point! So life is busy, but very good. And I have been cooking eggplant and banana granola in my spare time.
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